The Ombudsmen: Time for Jurisdictional Expansion The Case for Extending the Jurisdiction of The Statutory Ombudsmen to Cover the Exercise of Public Power in the Private Sector

The diffusion of public power in New Zealand through state sector reforms is well documented.  As "public functions" are increasingly exercised by "private" bodies other than the traditional array of Ministries and Departments, the questions arise as to whether the "public law" tools that have historically accompanied such exercise continue to apply. This article argues that one such "tool", the Ombudsman, is particularly suited to application in the control of the exerciseof public power by the private sector.  In doing so, the author traverses the arguments made for extending the application of public law tools to the private sector, the extent to which public laws have so far been applied to private sector exercises of public power, and the particular reasons for extension of the jurisdiction of the Ombudsmen thereto.&nbsp

Synthesis, characterisation and biological activity of gold(III) catecholate and related complexes

The reactions of the cyclometallated gold(III) complexes [LAuCl₂] [L=2-(dimethylaminomethyl)phenyl, 2-benzylpyridyl or 2-anilinopyridyl] with catechol, tetrachlorocatechol, or the cyclic α,β-diketone SCH(CO2Et)C(O)C(O)CH(CO2Et) give stable complexes containing five-membered Au-O-C-C-O rings. These represent the first examples of well-characterised gold(III) catecholate complexes. Similarly, reactions with 2-acetamidophenol [HOC₆H₄NHC(O)CH₃] give complexes with the related Au---N---C---C---O ring. The complexes were characterised by NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, elemental microanalysis, and in the case of the complex [(2-benzylpyridyl)Au{OC₆H₄NC(O)CH₃}] by an X-ray crystal structure determination. Several complexes show high activity towards P388 murine leukemia cells

The ordinal efficiency of betting markets: an exploded logit approach

This paper offers a new perspective on efficiency in betting markets by examining the degree to which finishing order in horseraces corresponds to probabilities inherent in odds across different categories of horserace. The application of an exploded logit procedure reveals a significantly greater degree of ordinal efficiency in higher relative to lower class races. Explanations for the phenomenon include differences in prize-related incentives, cross-market distinctions in information markets and differential opportunity/incentive for market manipulation

High-pressure studies on molecular systems at ambient and low temperatures

Pressure and temperature are two environmental variables that are increasingly being exploited by solid-state researchers probing structure-property relationships in the crystalline state. Modern high-pressure apparatus is capable of generating many billions of Pascals in the laboratory, and therefore can produce significantly greater alterations to crystalline materials than changes in temperature, which can typically be varied by only a few thousand Kelvin. Many systems such as single-molecule magnets exhibit interesting properties under low-temperature regimes that can be substantially altered with pressure. The desire by investigators to perform analogous single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies has driven the development of new high-pressure apparatus and techniques designed to accommodate low-temperature environments. [Ni(en)3][NO3]2 undergoes a displacive phase transition from P6322 at ambient pressure to a lower symmetry P6122/P6522 structure between 0.82 and 0.87 GPa, which is characterized by a tripling of the unit cell c axis and the number of molecules per unit cell. The same transition has been previously observed at 108 K. The application of pressure leads to a general shortening of O···H hydrogen bonding interactions in the structure, with the greatest contraction (24%) occurring diagonally between stacks of Ni cation moieties and nitrate anions. A novel Turnbuckle Diamond Anvil Cell designed for high-pressure low-temperature single-crystal X-ray experiments on an open-flow cryostat has been calibrated using the previously reported phase transitions of five compounds: NH4H2PO4 (148 K), ferrocene (164 K), barbituric acid dihydrate (216 K), ammonium bromide (235 K), and potassium nitrite (264 K). From the observed thermal differentials between the reported and observed transition temperatures a linear calibration curve has been constructed that is applicable between ambient-temperature and 148 K. Low-temperature measurements using a thermocouple have been shown to vary significantly depending on the experimental setup for the insertion wire, whilst also adding undesirable thermal energy into the sample chamber which was largely independent of attachment configuration. High-pressure low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction data of [Mn12O12(O2CMe)16(H2O)4] (known as Mn12OAc) reveals a pressure-induced expulsion of the crystallized acetic acid from the crystal structure and resolution of the Jahn-Teller axes disorder between ambient pressure and 0.87 GPa. These structural changes have been correlated with high-pressure magnetic data indicating the elimination of a slow-relaxing isomer over this pressure range. Further application of pressure to 2.02 GPa leads to the expansion of these Jahn-Teller axes, resulting in an enhancement of the slow-relaxing magnetic anisotropy as observed in the literature. Relaxation of pressure leads to a resolvation of the crystal structure and re-disordering of the Jahn-Teller axes, demonstrating that this structural-magnetic phenomenon is fully reversible with respect to pressure. The space group of the Prussian blue analogue Mn3[Cr(CN)6].15H2O has been re-evaluated as R-3m between ambient pressure and 2.07 GPa using high-pressure single-crystal X-ray and high-pressure neutron powder data. Reductions in metal-metal distances and gradual distortions of the Mn octahedral geometry have been correlated with previously reported increases in Tc and declines in ferrimagnetic moment in the same pressure range. Increasing the applied pressure to 2.97 GPa leads to partial amorphization and results in a loss of long-range magnetic order as shown by the literature. The application of pressure (1.8 GPa) to the structure of K2[Pt(CN)4]Br0.24.3.24H2O (KCP(Br)) causes a reduction in the Pt intra-chain and inter-chain distances, and results in an enhancement of the overall conductivity under these conditions as demonstrated in the literature. Almost no changes occur to the high-pressure crystal structure upon cooling to 4 K, except in the Pt-Pt intra-chain distances which converge and suppress the Peierls distortion known to occur at 4 K, resulting in a comparatively greater electrical conductivity under these conditions

Contribution of Fdh3 and Glr1 to Glutathione Redox State, Stress Adaptation and Virulence in Candida albicans

Acknowledgments: We thank Aaron Mitchell and Dominique Sanglard for providing the C. albicans protein kinase and transposon mutant libraries, and Louise Walker for the strain CAMY203.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Integrative Model of Oxidative Stress Adaptation in the Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

Acknowledgments We are grateful to the Ian Fraser Cytometry Centre and our Mass Spetrometry and qPCR Facilities for help with the flow cytometry, glutathione and qRT-PCR assays, respectively. We also thank our many colleagues in the CRISP Consortium and in the medical mycology and systems biology communities for insightful discussions. Funding: This work was supported by the CRISP project (Combinatorial Responses In Stress Pathways), which was funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (www.bbsrc.ac.uk): AJPB, KH, CG, ADM, NARG, MT, MCR. (Research Grants; BB/F00513X/1, BB/F005210/1-2). AJPB and JQ received additional support from the BBSRC (Research Grants; BB/K016393/1; BB/K017365/1). NARG and AJPB were also supported by the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk), (Grants: 080088; 097377). AJPB was also supported by the European Research Council (http://erc.europa.eu/), (STRIFE Advanced Grant; ERC-2009-AdG-249793). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

PhosphoregDB: The tissue and sub-cellular distribution of mammalian protein kinases and phosphatases

BACKGROUND: Protein kinases and protein phosphatases are the fundamental components of phosphorylation dependent protein regulatory systems. We have created a database for the protein kinase-like and phosphatase-like loci of mouse that integrates protein sequence, interaction, classification and pathway information with the results of a systematic screen of their sub-cellular localization and tissue specific expression data mined from the GNF tissue atlas of mouse. RESULTS: The database lets users query where a specific kinase or phosphatase is expressed at both the tissue and sub-cellular levels. Similarly the interface allows the user to query by tissue, pathway or sub-cellular localization, to reveal which components are co-expressed or co-localized. A review of their expression reveals 30% of these components are detected in all tissues tested while 70% show some level of tissue restriction. Hierarchical clustering of the expression data reveals that expression of these genes can be used to separate the samples into tissues of related lineage, including 3 larger clusters of nervous tissue, developing embryo and cells of the immune system. By overlaying the expression, sub-cellular localization and classification data we examine correlations between class, specificity and tissue restriction and show that tyrosine kinases are more generally expressed in fewer tissues than serine/threonine kinases. CONCLUSION: Together these data demonstrate that cell type specific systems exist to regulate protein phosphorylation and that for accurate modelling and for determination of enzyme substrate relationships the co-location of components needs to be considered

Risk Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change for Key Marine Species in South Eastern Australia. Part 2: species profiles

[Extract] Blacklip and greenlip abalone form the basis of valuable fisheries in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales (Figure 1.1). The Tasmanian abalone fishery is the largest wild abalone fishery in the world, producing more than 25% of the global catch (Miller et al. 2009). In 2008, the fishery had a gross landed value of $ 90 million. Blacklip abalone (BA), Haliotis rubra, is the predominant species harvested in Tasmania with 2461 t landed in 2008, compared to only 122 t of greenlip abalone (GA), H. laevigata (Tarbath and Gardner 2009). Since 2003, the BA fishery has been divided into five zones: Eastern, Western, Northern, Bass Strait, and Central West (Tarbath and Gardner 2009). The GA fishery is restricted to the north of the state and is managed by regions and separately from the BA fishery. In Victoria, approximately 1,200 t was landed in 2007/08, however, the current TAC is 774 t (2010/11). Catches are dominated by BA (96%) and the fishery is structured into three zones: Western, Central and Eastern. The South Australian fishery harvests approximately 880 t of abalone each year, about 60% of this is BA with the remainder comprising GA. Like Victoria, the South Australian fishery is divided into the Southern, Central and Western zones. Current annual catches in NSW were less than 75 t in 2009/10 and consist exclusively of BA. The commercial fisheries are assessed on a variable combination of commercial catch, effort and size-composition data, fishery-independent surveys and length-structured models. In Tasmania, 105,500 abalone were taken by recreational fishers in 2006/07, weighing an estimated 49 t. The number of recreational licenses has tripled since 1995, with 12,500 recreational diving licenses issued in 2007/08 (Lyle 2008). Recreational catches in SA are small, probably less than 1% of the TACC (Jones, 2009)